Before leaving Independence, we visited the downtown core to see the birthplace, home, church and museum of President Harry S. Trueman. It was early in the day, hardly any traffic, and we had it all to ourselves. This is his town and everything here is “Harry”. The biggest surprise of the visit was the First Presbyterian Church where Harry met his future wife, Bess, in Sunday School when they were just children. The church was actually closed this morning but we rang the intercom buzzer and the receptionist let us in for a quick photo tour and history lesson. We were thrilled, needless to say.
Then off we went to the north, crossing the Missouri/Iowa state line by early afternoon. En route, we happened across a fantastic antique mall called ” The Enchanted Frog”. Miles of aisles of treasures… I found some lovely glass that might be useful in future projects (happy face).
We passed through the town of St. Charles with its quaint visitor’s welcome center and antique shop. The building is a repurposed Presbyterian Church build in 1916. All original including the stained glass. Very nice!
Finally we came to Winterset, Iowa. Monica has dreamed of being here ever since the movie “Bridges of Madison County” came out in 1995. This is wide open farm land and all roads are laid out in perfect grid formation. We found a local winery (Covered Bridges Winery) but it was closed so we went to the grocery store and bought one for later, made a quick pass around the town square to get our bearings and then found our hotel for then next two days (Covered Bridge Inn).
There is a freshness in the air tonight and the sun is setting on the cornfields across the road from our hotel. As I finish this, we are getting ready to walk next door to a pizza restaurant before calling it a day. Tomorrow will be a day of exploration and maybe a picnic under a bridge.
Here are the photo highlights of day 27 – Arriving Winterset
nellyglass studio 